Syringe apparatus



Feb. 12, 1935. GROSS I,990,646

SYRINGE APPARATUS Filed Jan. 20, 1933 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 w M 3211. \9 a v2iNVENTO R w; QM s M vmu ATTORN EY Feb. 12, 1935. GROSS 1,990,646

SYRINGE APPARATUS Filed Jan; 20, 1955 2 Sheecsl-Sheet 2 v I42 v w/nArA 51mm ATTORNEY to the recipient Patented Feb. 12, 1935 watts UNITED STATE$ QATEN'E' OFFIQE i SYRINGE APPARATUS I Louis Gross, New York, N. Y. 7 i Application January 20, 1933, Serial no. 652,653

7 Claims.

This invention relates to syringe apparatus, and it has among its objects syringe apparatus particularly adaptedfor blood transfusion and similar surgical operations; enabling positive and unidirectional transfusion of fluid with a simple, foolproof, valveless structure and requiring a minimum of attention in use.

' The foregoing and other objects of the invention will be best understood from the following descriptions of exemplifications thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,

portion of the syringe apparatus embodying a modified form of the invention;

Fig. 5 is a transverse vertical sectional view through the syringe apparatus along line 5--5 of Fig. 4; and I Fig. 6 is a developed view of the guide head of the syringe apparatus shown in Figs. 41 and 5.

In using blood transfusion apparatus for with-- drawing blood from a donor and injecting it into a recipient, it is important that the appa-- ratus be of utmost simplicity, have as few movable parts as possible, and that it positively assure unidirectional flow of the transfused fluid.

The present invention provides such syringe apparatus with only two movable parts-equipped with a simple and foolprocf guide mechanism confining the relative movement of the two parts to a definite path and direction, insuring positive fiow of the transfusion fluid from the donor with a minimum of manipulations.

The exemplification of the invention shown. in Figs. 1 to 3 comprises an elongatedcylindricial pump barrel 11 having an interior cylindrical pump chamber 12 into which is slidably fitted contact surfaces of the two members being ground to have a good fit. The bottom end ofthe cham- I beris closed by a flat bottom wall 14 against which a corresponding piston bottom wall15 fits The pump to reduce to a minimum all dead air spaces between the barrel and piston walls when the latter is in its innermost position. The top end. of

'thepump barrel 11 is provided with a reinforcing flange 16 and has an opening to permit insertion and withdrawal of the pistonv 13 from the interior of the barrel. The top end of the piston 13 is provided with a reduced neck por- .of its length to provide'a pair of ports 22 and 23 for communicating withthe interior of the pump barrel. 1

Nipple which serves as an inlet, has attached to it a tube 24, for instance, of rubber, as is used in connection with surgical apparatus, the other end of which is connected to av needle 25 which is inserted into the vein of the donor of the blood,aclamp 26 permitting closing of the tube 24. In a similar way, a rubber tube 27 is attached to the outlet nipple 21 on the other side of the pump barrel,- the tube being connected to an injection needle 28 of the recipient of the blood, a clamp 29 serving to shut off the rubber tube 27.

' The bottom wall 14 of the pump chamber 12 is also provided with a nipple 30 having an opening 31 for admitting fluid into the pump chamber, a rubber tube 32 closed by a clamp 33 being attached to nipple 30 to permit shutting off the bottom opening 31.

The outer surface of the cylindrical piston 13 has a cut-off longitudinal portion 35 which forms a longitudinal'groove between the cylindrical barrel surface and the cut-ofi portionof the cylinder periphery, the groove 351extending from the bottom of the piston till a point of its length where it overlaps the ports 22 and 23 when the piston is in inward position. In Fig. 1 the groove 35 of, the piston is shown lying opposite the inlet'opening 22, establishing thereby a connection between the inlet openingv and the bottom of the pump chamber in front of the piston chamber'l5. In this position the outvlet opening 23 is scaled up by the cylindrical surface of the piston. On rotating the piston 13, the nippleopening 22 becomes sealed'up, and if the piston is rotated 180, the groove comes to lie in front of the nipple opening 23 on the op posite side of the barrel, as indicated by the dotted line 35, establishing a connection between the outlet opening 23 and the bottom of the pump chamber 12 in front of the piston bottom 15. Because of this arrangement, pulling out of the piston 13, while the piston groove 35 lies in front of port 22, will suck in blood through needle 25 inserted in the donors vein, tube 24, inlet port 22, and then along piston groove 35 to the bottom portion of the pump chamber 12, filling the space in front of the piston bottom 15. By turning now the piston 13 and bringing piston groove 35 opposite the port 23 and then pushing in the piston to its inward position, the blood pumped into the space in front of the piston bottom 15 in the outward stroke, is expelled through groove 35, port 23, tube 27, and needle 28, into the recipient of the blood transfusion.

The blood is thuswithdrawn from the donor by an outward stroke of the piston 13 and injected into the recipient by an inward stroke of the piston, without maintaining at any time any directable parts besides the pump barrel and pump piston.

The syringe apparatus has, in addition, a simple and efiective mechanism for controlling the movement of the piston within the pump barrel to permit ingress of fluid into the pumping chamber only through inlet port 22, and permit egress of fluid from the chamber only through outlet port 23. In the construction shown, this is effected by confining the piston to longitudinal movement in outward direction only when the piston groove 35 lies opposite inlet port 22 of the pump while pumping blood from the donor into pump chamber 12; and for confining the piston to longitudinal movement in inward direction only when the piston groove 35 lies opposite outlet port 23 while injecting blood from the pump chamber 12 into the recipient.

This mechanism comprises a rigid collar having a lower half 41 and an upper half 42, with overlapping engaging edges clamped tightly around the flanged top portion of the pump barrel 13 by means of a cap 43 having a threaded flange 44 screwed over a corresponding thread formed over the outer surfaces of the projecting rear portions of,the collar halves.

The two outer-sides of the upper collar half 42 are provided with a pair of ratchet bars 45 and 46, the ratchet teeth of bar 45 having a flat slope in outward, and a steep slope in inward direction, and the ratchet teeth of bar 46 having a flat slope in inward, and a steep slope in outward direction. A pair of outwardly extending guide bars 47 and 48 extend from the outer sides of the lower collar half 41 directly below the lower edges of the ratchet teeth of the upper collar half 42. A resilient detent 49 having an inwardly bent catch 50 engaging the ratchet teeth of bars 45 or 46 is held by a collar 51 firmly attached to a portion of the piston neck 17, the detent catch 50 engaging the ratchet teeth and controlling by this engagement the outward and inward movement of the piston 13 within the pump barrel.

The collar 40 is clamped to the pump barrel 11,

in a positon in which the detent catch 50 is in engagement with the teeth of the ratchet strip 45 when the piston groove 35 is aligned with inlet port 22; and in engagement with the teeth of ratchet strip 46 when the piston'groove 35 is aligned with the outlet port 23. The piston 13 may be rotated by the turning of the knob 18 to swing the detent catch 50 from the ratchet bar 45 to ratchet bar 46 and vice versa, the swinging movement of the piston and the detent being limited by the guide bars 4'? and 48 projecting outwardly from the sides of the lower collar half 41. These guide bars 47 and 48 thus serve as stops, limiting the swinging movement of the detent 49, and the corresponding rotary movement of the piston 13 from the position in which the piston groove 35 is in communication with inlet port 22 and the position in which the piston groove is in communication with the outlet port 23 of the pump barrel.

If the piston is pulled out for some length from the pump barrel and turned into any angular position in which the piston groove 35 does not overlie either inlet port 22 or outlet port 23, that is, into any position where the ratchet catch 50 does not engage the ratchet teeth along guide bars 47 or 48, longitudinal inward movement of the piston within the barrel will be prevented. by the pressure of the fluid present in the chamber in front of the piston bottom 15; and longitudinal outward movement of the piston will be prevented by the vacuum that would be created in the space in front of the piston bottom. Accordingly,,longitudinal movement of the piston in the barrel will be confined only to the positions in which the piston groove 35 lies in front of either inlet 22 or 23. In all other angular positions of the piston groove 35 in the barrel 11, the piston will be automatically held at the same height in the barrel.

Through the engagement of the detent end 50 with the guide bars 47 and 48, respectively, there is provided a firm longitudinal guide for the outward stroke of the piston when the piston groove 35 is in communication with the inlet port 22, as well as for the inward stroke of the piston when the piston groove 35 is in communication with the outlet port 23, thus securing firm longitudinal guidance of the piston in the positions in which it is free to move longitudinally in the barrel. Since the ratchet 45 has its teeth directed toward the top of the barrel, the detent catch 50 engaging these teeth will permit movement of the piston over this ratchet 45 only in outward direction, any attempt to move the piston inward in this position being prevented by the steep sides of the ratchet teeth. On turning the piston 13 in its outward position till detent catch 50 engages the ratchet 46 on the other side of the syringe, the oppositely directed ratchet teeth will permit only inward movement of the piston, an outward movement of the piston being prevented by the rearward direction'of the teeth of ratchet 46. There is thus provided a very simple, but positive, guide for longitudinally moving the piston in outward direction while its piston groove 35 is in communication with inlet port 22, this movement being confined to the outward direction, end movement in inward direction being prevented by the ratchet arrangement. In a simi-- lar way, there is provided a positive guide for moving the piston in inward direction while maintaining communication between the piston groove 35 with. outlet port 23, and preventing other than inward movement in longitudinal direction by the ratchet engagement of the detent with the ratchet strip 46.

To enable determination of the quantity or" fluid passing through the transfusion syringe, the upper wall of the barrel, a portion of which saline solution, through a rubber tube 32 having a. clamp 33, like in the arrangement shown in Fig. 1. The adapter 71 has further an outlet chamber 76 with an inlet nipple 77 connected by a rubber tube 78 to the outlet nipple 21 of the pump barrel 11 through which the blood that is to be injected is fed from the pump chamber to the outlet chamber 76 when the piston 13 is moved inwardly along the guide bar 48 of the syringe collar 40. The inlet chamber 76 of the adapter has an outlet nipple 79, similar to outlet nipple 30 of the pump barrel, to which is attached a closely fitting injection needle 80 anchored by a spring attachment 81 on the nipple 79.

With the adapter so mounted and arranged on the syringe, the unit as a whole may be used like an ordinary needle syringe, and permit continuous transfusion of blood pumped from a donor through inlet 22 of the syringe barrel and injected into the passage to the injection needle 80 held directly on the end of the syringe. When so operated, the syringe support 60 may be used with the syringe as a unit, or may be taken off from the syringe apparatus. I In Figs. 4, 5 and 6 there is shown a. modified form of the syringe apparatus of my invention in which the syringe barrel is provided with more than two lateral ports, each sealed by the cylindrical surface of the piston, and arranged for selective alignment with the longitudinal groove of the piston, and longitudinal movement in constricted directions for confining the flow of the transfused fluid through the individual ports in a predetermined unidirectional way.

As shown in Fig. 4, the pump barrel 101 and the piston 102 are constructed like those of the arrangement in Figs. 1 to 3, the bottom 103 of the barrel being flat and without an outlet opening. To the top of the pump barrel 101 is secured a collar guide attachment 104 of modified construction. It comprises a lower collar half 105 and an upper collar half 106 with overlapping engaging edges clamped tightly around the flanged top portion of the pump barrel 101 by means of a threaded ring 107, as in the prior embodiment. The barrel has three nipple ports 111, 112 and 113 spaced angularly along the periphery of the barrel at an intermediate portion of the length thereof, and the collar is provided with three ratchet bars 114, 115 and 116 aligned with the three nipple ports.

A resilient detent 118 with an inwardly turned catch 119 is carried by an outwardly projecting arm of a collar 120 clamped to the neck portion of the piston, like in the prior modification, to

be turned from one ratchet bar to another and One mode of arranging the three sets of rat-' chet bars on the guide collar is indicated by way of example in the developed view of the guide collar shown in Fig. 6. In the two outer'ratchet bars 114 and 115, the teeth are sloped in the direction towards the top of the barrel, permitting outward movement of the piston in the pump barrel in each of thesepositions. In the intering guide members 127.

mediate ratchet bar 115, the slope of the ratchet teeth is in the opposite direction, permitting movement of the piston only in inward direction into the piston. With this arrangement it is possible to set the piston into engagement with ratchet 114 for pumping a fluid, for instance, a saline solution, through port 111 as saline inlet port, then turn the piston and set it into engagement with ratchet teeth 115 and inject the saline solution from the barrel through the central outlet port 112 into a recipient, and then turn the piston and set it into engagement with ratchet 116, to pump blood through blood inlet port 113, and then continue the blood transfusion operation between blood inlet port 113 and blood outlet port 112.

Longitudinal guides, in the form of barrier bars 121 and 123, are provided at the lower edges of the ratchets 114 and 116 to provide a longitudinal guide for the detent 118 in its outward movements. The intermediate ratchet bar 115 is provided with a pair of special notched guide bars 127, in the form of longitudinal members, lying on both sides of the ratchet bar 115, and confining the detent catch member 119 in its longitudinal movement to the space above the ratchet teeth to guide the inward movement of the piston in the position at which the piston groove 121 is in engagement with outlet port 112 to eject the fluid from the pump chamber.

These guide barriers 127 are. not continuous, but have notches 128 opposite the gap portions of the ratchet teeth so that when in this position, that means at the end of each ratchet tooth, the detent catch -119 can be turned laterally, either to the right, or left, and swung over either to the ratchet member 114 on one side, or the ratchet member 116 on the other side. This lateral swinging movement is, however, subject to an additional control by two locking bars 141 longitudinally slidable in channels formed between the outer sides of the notched bars 127 and similarly notched outer supporting bars 112 projecting above the collar surface.

The locking bars 141 have a limited longitudinal movement, by the sliding engagement of the front end 134 of each bar within a guiding groove 135 in the outward flange of the collar, and the sliding engagement of the rear end 136 of each locking bar in a groove 138 formed in the rear flange 139 of the collar, the two halves of which are held clamped to the pump barrel by means of a threaded ring 140. A knurled knob projects from each locking bar above the level of the collar flange 139 to permit pushing of the locking bar 141 forward and back in its guide channel.

Each locking bar 141 has a plurality of projecting teeth 142 which lie between the upstand- As shown in Fig. 6, these teeth 142 lie in a position at which they uncover the notches 128 in the guide barriers 127 so that in this position the notches 128 are open. To keep the lock bar in this position, it is provided with a metal locking pin 147 located in a channel 145 within the locking bar and pressed down by a spring to engagea groove in the underlying collar surface and be kept by the spring in this position. By pushing the knob 101 of the lock bar in outward direction, the spring holding the locking pin 136 yields and the locking bar moves forward till its teeth 142 cover up the notches 128 in the guide bar and block lateral movement of the detent catch, preventing lateral rotation of the piston. The locking'pin 136 en- *port 112.

sages then another movers the assess col:

lar surface so that the looking bar is nowlocked in the new position in which lateral movement of the 'detent catch 119 from the ratc'hetguide is mocked.

i The locking bars 131 on both sides of ratchet 115 may thus be independently moved froni' the position in which they lock'the lateral movement of the detent and piston, or permit lateral move-' ment of the detent and th piston.

With the foregoingarrangement,barrel outlet 1'12'I'n'ay be arranged to confine its cooperation either to inlet 111 or to inlet 113; For instance,

and ratchet bar 1 and permitting only pumping of fluid into the pump chamber' byipulling-out the" piston alongratchet 114 and ejecting the fluid into" the rocipient'by turning at the end of the stroke the piston till the detent. comes into engagement with ratchet 115, and thereupon pushing" the piston in and injectingtheffiuid into the recipient. If the inlet llfi'is'to be used with outlet 115 of the pump barrel, loch bar 141 on the side of the ratchet 11'5 facing ratchet 116 is unlocked, and lock bar 1 11 on the other side of ratchet 115 is locked, and the pistonissimilarly manipulated to beinove'd outwardly and pump along ratchet 116, then turned in'outward position'for engagement with ratchet 115; and then pushed'inw'ard to eject'the blood through outlet This insures perfect unidirectional movement and guidance of'the piston in each of its strokes. i a r If care is used, it is" also possible to operate in sequence all three inlets,ileaving both locking "barsoi the intermediate ratchet 115 in unlocked position, since the notched guide bars 127 on both 1 sides of'the intermediateiratchet l'l 51gives sufiioien-t guidance; for the detent catch to permit positive handling of the instrument when use unlocked guide bars 127. 1 v The invention is not limited to the details of construction; and materials described above, nor

to the usefor blood transfusion, but is generally applicable in various other surgical apparatus in Nwhich sirnilaroperations have to be carried out.

cal pump barrel having a pump chamber closed at one-.ehdan'diopeii at the opposite end, a cy1indrical pump piston fitting said pump barrel and movable therein between an outward position wherein its bottom encloses the open end of the pump chamber and an inward position wherein it fills said pump chamber and overlaps an outward portion of said barrel adjoining said chambar and occupied by said piston in the outward position, a'pair of peripherally displaced ports in said outward barrel portion covered by the piston walls over its entire stroke range, .a longitudinal recess on the cylindrical piston surface extending from its bottom to a height sufiicient to overlap the peripheral region of said ports when the piston bottom is in contact with the barrel bottom, and guide means interconnecting said piston and said barrel including a guide element on said barrel and a guide element on said piston engaging each other to confine the wa d 355E810? the r d e. tutti? liis t iiii m nt or, rma ce s w th o cram rd. ok it,

g the out pump piston fitting said puncture and movable therein between westward position wherein its bdttoifi forms' th'e outwardend of s'aid'cha mber" and an inward wherein it fills said pumpchamber and overlaps an exterior portion of staid adjacent saidpllmp chamber occupied barrel t stoii outward position, a pair of ally displaced ports insaid outwardfbar cylindrical piston slurf ace entending from its bo ti toin td a height sufficient to overlap the periplh eilal' region of said ports 'when the' pisto'n bottom is infcontact withthe barrelbot-tom, one oif said pump members secured theretofa pair oi each coordinated with one of said guidememeers, ports, and

l other of saidp'u'mp members hav mg anfa'dditional guide member cooperating with] said" can of guide members for c'onfining "lthe inward stroke of, the piston to the position ofalignnien't of the pistonrecessj with one of said ports and for confining the-outward stroke of the pistonto the position of alighmentiof the piston recess with the other of said'ports.

a ignment of the on: covered by' the piston walls over its entire stroke range, a longitudinal recess on the 3. In a syringe apparatus} a pair of mea members comprising a cylindrical pump barrel having'a' pump chamber closed'at one end and open at the opposite end anda cylindricalpump piston fitting said barrel, said piston being movable between an outward position in said barreli wherei-ri it bounds-the open end of; s mpling chamber, and ail-"inward positionwhereinit as 7 said pump chamber and overlaps an'exterior portionfof said; barrel adjacent said pump chamber I occupied; b'ifth'e piston' in the outward position; a

pair of'peripherally displaced ports in said outward barrel portion covered by the piston walls over its entire: stroke range a longitudinal; recess on the cylindrical piston surface extendingfrom its bottom to 'a heightsufiijcient to" overlap the peripheral regionof said ports when the piston bottoiri' is' in cont'act with the barrel bottom, one

3 of saidpuIfin nembers having secured" thereto a pair-lof'ratchet members longitudinally aligned with' 'sai'd' ports, respectively, the other-of said pump ineinbersj having, secured theretofl detent me 'aiis for ngag n either one or; the other of saidfratchet members, theslopeof the teeth of one-of" said teaser members limitingthe movement of the detent means thereon to restrict the movement of the piston in the barrel to outward direction and the slope of the teeth of the other of said ratchet members limiting the movement of the detent means thereon to restrict the movement of the piston in the barrel to inward direcmovable therein between an outward positionwherein its bottom forms the outward end of said chamber and an inward position wherein it fills said pump chamber and overlaps an outward portion of said barrel adjoining said chamber and occupied by said piston in the outward position, a pair of peripherally displaced ports in said outward barrel portion covered by the piston walls over its entire stroke range, a longitudinal recess on the cylindrical piston surface extending from its bottom to a height sufficient to overlap the peripheral region of said ports when the piston bottom is in contact with the barrel bottom, and ratchet means secured to said barrel and detent means secured to said piston and engaging said ratchet means to constrict the longitudinal movement of said piston in said barrel to inward direction only when said recess is aligned with one of said ports and to outward direction only when said recess is aligned with the other of said ports.

5. A syringe apparatus comprising a cylindrical pump barrel having a pump chamber closed at one end and open at the opposite end, a cylindrical pump piston fitting said pump barrel and movable therein between an outward position wherein its bottom encloses the open end of the pump chamber and an inward position wherein it fills said pump chamber and overlaps an outward portion of said barrel adjoining said chamber and occupied by said piston in the outward position, an inlet port and an outlet port peripherally displaced in said outward barrel portion covered by the piston walls over its entire stroke range, a longitudinal recess on the cylindrical piston surface extending from its bottom to a height sufiicient to overlap the peripheral region of said ports when the piston bottom is in contact with the barrel bottom, an inlet ratchet and an outlet ratchet longitudinally secured to difierent peripheral portions of said barrel, and

'detent means secured to said piston to rotate with said piston from a position of engagement with one of said ratchets to a position of engagement with the other of said ratchets, the positions of said ratchets being correlated to the positions of said ports to hold the piston recess aligned with the inlet port during engagement between the detent means and the inlet ratchet and aligned with said outlet port during engagement between the detent means and the outlet ratchet, said inlet ratchet having outwardly sloped teeth to restrict movement of the detent thereon only to a direction at which the piston is pulled out of the barrel and said outlet ratchet having inwardly sloped teeth to restrict movement of the detent thereon only to a direction at which the piston is pushed into the barrel.

6. A syringe apparatus comprising a cylindrical pump barrel having a. part forming a pumpchamber with a transverse bottom wall constituting the inward end of said chamber, a cylindrical pump piston fitting said pump barrel and movable therein between an outward position wherein its bottom forms the outward end of said chamber and an inward position wherein it fills said pump chamber and overlaps an outward portion of said barrel adjoining said chamber and occupied by said piston in the outward position, an inlet port and an outlet port peripherally displaced in said outward barrel portion covered,

by the piston walls over its entire stroke range, a longitudinal recess on the cylindrical piston surface extending from'its bottom to a height suflicient to overlap the peripheral region of said ports when the piston bottom is in contact with the barrel bottom, ratchet means secured to said barrel and detent means secured to said piston and engaging said ratchet means, and additional means for confining the movement of said detent means to the longitudinal direction while in engagement with either of said ratchets.

7. A syringe apparatus comprising a cylindrical pump barrel having a pump chamber closed at one end and open at the opposite end, a cylindrical pump piston fitting said pump barrel and movable therein between an outward position wherein its bottom closes the open end of the pump chamber and an inward position wherein it fills said pump chamber and overlaps an outward portion of said barrel adjoining said chamber and occupied by said piston in the outward position, an inlet port and an outlet port peripherally displaced in said outward barrel portion covered by the piston walls over its entire stroke range, a longitudinal recess on the cylindrical piston surface extending from its bottom to a height sufilcient to overlap the peripheral region of said ports when the piston bottom is in contact with the barrel bottom, guide means interconnecting said piston and said barrel for confining the inward stroke of the piston to the position of alignment of the piston recess with said outlet ports and for confining the outward stroke of the piston to the position of alignment of the piston recess with said inlet port, means for attaching the base of a forwardly projecting injection needle to the closed end of said barrel in alignment therewith, said needle having a fluid inlet at its base, and a tubular connection between the outlet port of said barrel and the inlet of said needle base for producing a direct fiow of fluid from said pump chamber into said injection needle on pushing the piston into the pump barrel.

LOUIS GROSS. 

